Apparatus and method for context-aware mobile data management

• US 8,751,743 B2
• Filed: 03/15/2011
• Issued: 06/10/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 03/15/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Howard University
• Original Assignee: Howard University
• Inventors: Burge, Legand L. III
• Primary Examiner(s): PATEL, KAUSHIKKUMAR M
• Application Number:
  US13/047,992
• Publication Number:
  US 20110225368A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,183 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 711/118
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 12/0862 with prefetch
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0224 based on user history
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1095 Replication or mirroring of data, e.g. scheduling or transport for data synchronisation between network nodes
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/306 User profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/5682 Policies or rules for updating, deleting or replacing the stored data
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/5683 Storage of data provided by user terminals, i.e. reverse caching
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2242/40 Data synchronization between user terminals and central server
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/50 Service provisioning or reconfiguring

Abstract

A context of a mobile device is determined. A context preference of a user associated with the mobile device is determined. The context of the mobile device and the user context preference is transmitted to another node and responsively returned data is received. Available free space in the mobile device is determined. All data whose timestamp is within a predetermined threshold is cached. The data is cached in at least a portion of the free space.

Claims

1. A method that efficiently cache and replicate application data in a context-aware system, the method comprising:

at a first mobile device;

determining a context of the first mobile device;

determining a context preference of a user associated with the first mobile device;

transmitting the context of the first mobile device and the user context preference to a server and responsively receiving first content data from the server;

receiving second content data from a second mobile device;

receiving private data updates from a user of the first mobile device and storing the received private updates in a first transmission queue, the private data updates associated with data that is not accessible by the general public;

receiving shared data updates from the user of the first mobile device and storing the received shared data updates in a second transmission queue, the shared data updates associated with data that is accessible by the general public;

determining a relevancy of the first content data and the second content data based upon the context of the first mobile device and storing the first content data and the second content data having a relevancy greater than a predetermined threshold in a third transmission queue;

transmitting contents of the first transmission queue and the second transmission queue to the server;

transmitting the contents of the second transmission queue and the third transmission queue to the second mobile device;

determining available free space in the third transmission queue of the first mobile device;

caching all data in the third transmission queue whose timestamp is within a predetermined threshold, the data being cached in at least a portion of the free space.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein transmitting the context of the mobile device and the user context preference to a server comprises transmitting to the server periodically.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein determining a context of the first mobile device comprises determining at least one of an event associated with the first mobile device, a time associated with the first mobile device, a location associated with the first mobile device, the pitch/yaw associated with the first mobile device, and a heading associated with the first mobile device.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein determining a context of the first mobile device comprises determining at least one of a demographic associated with the user, or user activity within the application associated with the user.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein determining a user'"'"'s context preferences comprises setting the temporal, spatial, demographical, and user activity for interfacing and accessing mobile content.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising accessing content and services via a menu driven user interface and obtaining implicit access to content and services via asynchronous notifications.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein the asynchronous notifications are selected from the group consisting of:

a dynamically generated list of advertisements, SMS text messages, emails, and a dynamically generated list of content and services.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein determining available free space comprises calculating a relevance score for all local data in the context-aware system.

9. A mobile device that efficiently caches and replicates application data in a context-aware system, the mobile device comprising:

an interface having an input and output;

a memory including a first transmission queue, a second transmission queue, and a third transmission queue;

a controller coupled to the memory and the interface, the controller configured to determine a context of the mobile device, determine a context preference of a user associated with the mobile device, and transmit the context of the mobile device and the user context preference to a server at the output, the controller also configured to responsively receive first content data from the server via the input, and to receive second content data from the second mobile device via the input;

the controller configured to receive private data updates from a user of the mobile device via the interface and store the received private updates in a first transmission queue, the private data updates associated with data that is not accessible by the general public;

the controller configured to receive shared data updates from the user of the mobile device and store the received shared data updates in a second transmission queue, the shared data updates associated with data that is accessible by the general public;

the controller configured to determine a relevancy of the first content data and the second content data based upon the context of the mobile device and store the first content data and the second content data having a relevancy greater than a predetermined threshold in a third transmission queue;

the controller configured to transmit contents of the first transmission queue and the second transmission queue to the server;

the controller configured to transmit the contents of the second transmission queue and the third transmission queue to the second mobile device;

the controller configured to determine available free space in the third transmission queue of the memory of the mobile device, and cache all data in the third transmission queue whose timestamp is within a predetermined threshold, the data being cached in at least a portion of the free space of the memory.

10. The mobile device of claim 9 wherein the controller is configured to determine at least one of an event associated with the mobile device, a time associated with the mobile device, a location associated with the mobile device, the pitch/yaw associated with the mobile device, and a heading associated with the mobile device.

11. The mobile device of claim 9 wherein the controller is configured to determine at least one of a demographic associated with the user, or user activity within the application associated with the user.

12. The mobile device of claim 9 wherein the controller is configured to set the temporal, spatial, demographical, and user activity for interfacing and accessing mobile content.

13. The mobile device of claim 9 wherein the controller is configured to access content and services via a menu driven user interface at the interface and obtain implicit access to content and services via asynchronous notifications.

14. The mobile device of claim 13 wherein the asynchronous notifications are selected from the group consisting of:

a dynamically generated list of advertisements, SMS text messages, emails, and a dynamically generated list of content and services.

15. The mobile device of claim 9 wherein the controller is configured to calculate a relevance score for all local data in the context aware system.